'Bows end seven-game slide, 5-1

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

A pickoff attempt by San Jose State didn't come close as Hawai'i's Arthur Guillen made it back to first base with ease. Guillen finished 2-for-4, including a stolen base in Hawai'i's 5-1 victory. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Chris George (1-2) pitched 7á strong innings and Bryan Lee, the usual Game 1 starter, pitched a dominant 1¡ innings of relief to notch his first save for the Rainbows (8-16, 1-3), who won their first conference game of the season before 1,142 at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Spartans are 17-9 and 3-4.

"We got back to basics this past week," said UH captain Scooter Martines, who was 3-for-3 with an RBI and stolen base. "Last week, we worked really hard and that's the things that carry over to the game. A sense of no fear. Fearless baseball. It almost seems as if we were playing scared the past how many weeks. We just went out there, made some things happen, tried to make some things happen."

Cortland Wilson (2-for-3) had a two-run single in the UH third; Derek Honma was 3-for-4 with an RBI.

George allowed an unearned run on six hits and three walks in his first opening-series start and kept the Spartans at bay. UH's offense never relented against SJSU starter Jeremy Rogelstad (5-3), tagging him for four runs and 10 hits in four-plus innings.

The Rainbows were aggressive on the bases, stealing two while getting caught three times against a superb defensive catcher in Adam Shorsher, who entered the game having thrown out 11 of 14 base stealers.

"He throws tremendous," UH coach Mike Trapasso said of Shorsher. "But it was about making things happen and not being afraid of making a mistake and I wanted to set that tone early. We ran into a couple of outs, but we got a couple of stolen bases as well. It was all about throwing caution into the wind and you try not to be reckless, but you have to be aggressive."

George, who Trapasso raved about in preseason, kept his pitches down in the strike zone, accounting for 10 grounders totaling 12 outs (two double plays) in his 115-pitch outing. He struck out three in the first two innings. Then he started getting more ground balls. At one stretch, he retired eight in a row before allowing a seventh-inning walk that was erased with a double play.

"I'd rather have the ground balls," George said. "Keep the defense in it, throw less pitches, get the ground balls than get the strikeouts. I just tried to hit by spots, instead of going with my hard stuff to get the strikeout."

When he began faltering in the eighth, center fielder Arthur Guillen showed some leather, hauling in a deep fly against the center-field fence for the second out of the inning. That catch came after he took a pitch off his face when squaring to bunt; that left him on the ground a for a few minutes. But he stayed in and even stole second base.

Guillen, who had started the season as the leadoff batter, had not started since March 2 against UC Irvine. Trapasso said Guillen's problem was not using his speed by hitting the ball on the ground or bunting. Last night, he led off the UH first with a bunt single. He was 2-for-4 with one of the outs a ground out.

After Guillen's catch in center, George hit Becktel, walked pinch-hitter Brad Kilby and allowed a single to Gabe Lopez to load the bases. Hector Zamora then hit a grounder to the hole on the left that third baseman Brent Cook made a diving stab at, but couldn't hold on to the ball to make a play. It allowed a run to score on the play that was ruled an error.

That ended George's night and in came Lee, the Game 1 starter the past seven weeks. He got Shorsher to ground into a force out to end the inning and then retired the side in the ninth in dominating fashion.

"Honestly, I'd rather start, but whatever role the coaches are going to put me in, I'm just going to go out there and play," Lee said.

The series continues at 6:35 tonight with William Quaglieri making his season starting debut for UH against Jahseam George for San Jose State.